Revising the influence of Persian, Indian and Chinese motifs on the architectural decorations of Kerman from the Safavid time to present

Kerman has long established its historical position in Iran, and it seems at some points the importance of its position has been highlighted. Since Bandar Abbas turned into an important commercial port, Kerman has been an important trade point in the country on the Silk Road. Due to many trade exchanges with India and China in Kerman, this second-class city turned into a first-class city during the Safavid. However, less exists on how its interactions with other culture and geographical proximity to other countries have influenced the architecture and adornments of buildings in Kerman during the Safavid and since then. The purpose of this research is to examine the adornments of buildings in Kerman since the Safavid era to see how they have been influenced by other countries, especially India and China. To this purpose, the relics of the monuments in this period in Kerman were selected as the sample and their decorations were examined in terms of originality and type of decoration. This study used research library method for data collection. Data were analyzed using a deductive approach. In order to analyze and classify the architectural decoration of buildings in terms of originality, using a criterion sampling, a number of available buildings were selected and their architectural features were analyzed. The selection criteria included the construction time and features of architectural decorations such as tile work, brickwork, color type, and volumes. The hypothesis of this research is that the architectural decoration of Kerman from the Safavid era reflects a combination of original Iranian, Indian and Chinese decorations. The results of the study approve the research hypothesis. The buildings under study reflected traditional Iranian architectural elements, the architectural features of India and China and West. The result of this study adds a new dimension to Iranian architecture research overshadowed by common traditional views.